"We are excited to be collaborating with START on this
extremely
important, fundamentally different cancer genomic research," Yingrui
Li, CEO of BGI Tech, said in a press release. "With SA1kCGP's world-class team
of physicians and researchers, the leadership of START's Dr. Tony Tolcher and
the scope and size of the project, we expect SA1kCGP to accelerate the
development of new cancer diagnostics and therapies. SA1kCGP is unique as a
privately funded project strategically structured to generate correlated,
useful
and accessible clinical and genomic cancer data that could lead to beneficial,
targeted cancer treatments."

At present, the SA1kCGP is performing whole-genome
sequencing on cancerous and normal tissue and blood samples from patients
with
one of 10 cancers. Under this collaboration, BGI Tech will provide
next-generation high-throughput genomic sequencing to identify mutations
linked
to certain cancers. BGI Tech will also gather, analyze and archive at BGI all
genetic and clinical data generated through the sequencing and
clinical
analyses. START will be in charge of handling patient recruitment, tumor sample
acquisition and collection of patient information.

SA1kCGP was launched in 2012 by START, and since then, the
initiative has exceeded its original goal of
collecting samples from 1,000
patients. To date, 1,200 patients have now agreed, to have their tumor tissues
sampled and allow for their tumors to be
transplanted into mouse models so that
researchers can target genetic mutations. The initiative's budget is $5
million, with roughly $1 million raised
to date through community donations.
SA1kCGP now plans to sequence the cancer genomes of 10,000 patients for a
fraction of the cost of other large-
scale cancer genome projects. This
undertaking brings together more than 200 cancer surgeons, pathologists,
researchers and oncologists from hospitals
in the San Antonio area, the
majority of which work at community-based facilities where 90 percent of cancer
care and clinical studies take place.

"Teaming with BGI Tech, with its broad array of sequencing
technologies, deep bioinformatics expertise
and extensive throughput capacity,
will advance SA1kCGP to a whole new level," Dr. Anthony W. Tolcher, clinical
director for START, commented in a
statement. "As a privately funded effort,
SA1kCGP depends upon the shared vision and commitment of community-based
donors, and the profound role BGI
will play in the project further elevates the
potential benefits that can be achieved for cancer patients through these generous
contributions."